Logan's Birth Story - November 16, 2008

It took me a long time to write Aidan's birth story. As so much has happened with Logan, I don't want to forget the details of his birth. Let's see if I can still remember or my mommy brain is malfunctioning.

I started feeling minor contractions the night/early morning of November 16, 2008. I knew the baby would be born that day as I had similar contractions with Aidan. The contractions were not close enough, nor were they very painful. They started coming closer and stronger when I got up in the morning (not that I had a whole lot of sleep that night). I didn't feel nervous or worried, as I were a few days before Logan's birth.

At around 7:30 a.m. or so, I felt that I should probably call Kaiser's advise nurse to see when's a good time to go to the hospital. At that time, my contractions were 5-7 minutes apart and lasted between 45 secs and a minute. When I called, the Labor and Delivery advise nurse suggested me to go in immediately as this is my second child and the delivery usually happened fast. I started getting ready, said goodbye to Aidan as I wouldn't be able to see him for a few days. He was totally fine as my parents were here to keep him company.

Hank and I went to the hospital and arrived at the waiting room at around 8:30 a.m. We waited for almost half an hour before someone came to lead me in the room. The contractions were getting frequent, but they were tolerable. Just like last time, I didn't scream or yell. I just did my deep breathing and held everything in. I checked into LDR4, changed my clothes and was admitted to the hospital. Leads were put on me to monitor my vitals and the contractions. I laid in bed, answered questions, signed forms, got my blood pressure checked, etc. My blood pressure as always was on the high side.

This experience was a little different than the last.
1) took 3 tries to put the IV in me and it was painful and uncomfortable throughout the rest of the duration, last time, no discomfort.
2) I was already 4 cm dilated when I got to the hospital, and quickly got to 6-7 cm in a matter of hours.
3) I could actually felt water coming out of me when the doctor broke my water.
4) Epidural was given when my contraction was gone. Last time, it was given while I had the contractions, thus, I couldn't feel how uncomfortable it was. It was PAINFUL getting epidural!! Besides, I delivered Logan only a couple hours after the epidural, last time it took a while before Aidan was born.
5) I felt very uncomfortable after I got my epidural. Last time, it was a breeze and I couldn't feel anything. This time, I felt tightening of my chest, and it turned out my blood pressure dropped dramatically. The epidural and my blood pressure had to be monitored a little more closely.
6) Hitting the epidural button this time didn't make a difference.
7) I could still feel my contractions (not in a very painful way, but the pressure of it), before and during labor.
8) I could feel the baby coming out and I had to call the nurse immediately as I actually had the urge to push the baby out.
9) Only took 20 minutes to push Logan out, which with Aidan, it took me 2 hours.
10) I was able to hold Logan immediately after his birth and see how purple and wrinkly he was. With Aidan, because he was stuck in me for 2 hours, he was taken to the pediatrician right away instead of to me.
11) I was able to move around after giving birth. I didn't feel sore or very uncomfortable.

However, just like with Aidan, holding the baby is the most amazing feeling in the world.

We happily took pictures and enjoyed this beautiful baby for a while until the nurse realized his temperature was a little low. The pediatrician was called and because he also found some mysterious rashes on Logan's body, he suggested to have Logan be kept at the Intensive Care Nursery (ICN) for monitoring in case the rashes were caused by an infection. Of course we're worried and weren't thrilled to hear such suggestion, but to be on the safe side, it had to be done.

Hank followed the nurse and pediatrician, and took Logan to the ICN while I waited for the nurse to clean me up and take me to my maternity room. Hank then came to look for me and took me to the ICN to see Logan. He was put on IV fluid, blood work was done for live cultures to see if any bacteria would grow. He was then transferred to the Continuing Care Nursery (CCN) for the next few days.

For the remainder of the stay, I went back and forth from my room to the nursery to see Logan. I didn't really have a lot of rest as I tried to pump every 3 hours to get the colostrum and milk going, and of course I was worried about Logan as well. Hank went home and didn't stay with me as we still had Aidan to take care of. We didn't want both parents to be gone and since it's not my first stay, I felt comfortable enough to be at the hospital by myself. This marked the first day of Logan's life.

Dan Dan's Birthing Story

Dan Dan is already 16 months old and yet I still haven't written his birthing story. I've been meaning to do so for the longest time. After reading a tragic blog of another January 06 Mom from BabyCenter, I decided to open this new blogging account and write about my dear Dan.

I first felt the contractions on the early morning of January 8, 2006. I think I felt some minor pain at around 1 or 2 a.m. I was able to sleep a little, reminding myself to sleep on my left. That morning, the contractions became more painful and frequent. I tried to use the big yoga ball that I got, lean on it on our bed to reduce the pain. Hank tried to massage me, but the pain would not go away (of course, doh!). At around 11 a.m., I called Kaiser and told that I was in pain. They told me that if the contractions were between 2-3 minutes, then I might be ready. From then on, we started tracking the frequency of the contractions, while trying not to go crazy. I think I actually did a pretty good job in not screaming and hurting Hank. I internalized my pain and just made some grunting sounds when the contractions came. Hank tried to comfort me, but was pretty helpless. We were all packed and once the contractions were close enough, we'd head to the hospital.

At around 1:30-2:00 p.m., I called back Kaiser and said my contractions were getting close. That walk from the Kaiser parking lot to the main hospital was definitely not fun. I had to stop and wait for the contractions to come and go before I could walk again. I hope that walking helped with my labor. I remembered walking through the hospital lobby to the elevator, and a woman was whispering to the man beside her that I was in having contractions. Damn right I was! We got to the hospital, waited in the waiting room for a brief time and was checked into the Labor and Delivery room. Everyone at at the hospital was very nice, especially, the nurses. Even though they had different Dr. interns during my stay there, everything was fine. I think I was only 4 cm dilated at the time and they gave me Pitocin (without me asking or telling me). I remembered asking for an epidural as soon as possible! haha Getting the epidural was an interesting experience. I had to wait for the contraction, once it's gone, then they insert that into my spine. I don't remember if that was painful or not since nothing can beat the pain of a contraction, right?

Afterwards, I just laid in bed until it's time. Hank was there with me the whole time. I called my parents to let them I was in the hospital and I bet they were nervous. I also called Lolita and told her to make me some ginger fried rice and bring them to the hospital. My mom said that I had to eat that after the baby is born. During this time, a few residents came in to check on me and see how's the dilating went.

Finally at around 10 p.m., I got to 10 cm and they were ready for the baby to come out. They first had to stop my epidural because I was supposed to push when the contractions came. I couldn't really feel any contractions with the drug. After that, I kept on pushing and pushing and pushing. We tried holding onto the bar, holding onto the towel, and yet Dan Dan's head was still stuck! Hank was on my left and Lolita was on my right, encouraging me along the way. I could feel I was working all the muscles that I had, yet the baby has not come out. During this time, they were monitoring the baby's heart beat and making sure baby was getting enough oxygen. At one point, the nurse gave me an oxygen mask. The resident doctor continued to encourage me to push and didn't really want to slit me open for the baby. It was getting so close that they could see the baby's hair. I guess I should appreciate her belief in my ability to push. They asked if I wanted to feel the hair, I refused. I just wanted to get this over with. Finally, after 2 long hours of pushing, Aidan was born on January 9, 2006 at 12:02 a.m.

Since Aidan was stuck for a while, a pediatrician was on standby to make sure he's doing ok, and draining some of the poopy stuff (I forgot the medical term, meconium?) out of him. They made sure he was ok. Hank was over there watching Aidan and cutting the umbilical cord. I knew he was a proud dad. I, on the other hand, was so dead tired. The doctor continued to get the rest of the placenta and all the bloody stuff out of me. Sewed a couple stitches, and I was fine. I have yet to hold Aidan at this time. At this point, I didn't really feel a lot of emotion towards my newborn baby. I think it's the hormones, the high and low of giving birth.

When Aidan was finally all cleaned up and healthy, I got to hold him for the first time. My precious baby. He's so cute. I was so glad he's not one of those ugly newborn babies. He's adorable! We then spent time taking pictures and videos and rested. I ate some of the ginger fried rice, but oopsie, I threw up all over. It's that epidural acting in my stomach. I wasn't feeling very hungry, just sore from my 'full body workout' for the last 2 hours.

I didn't have the initial happiness of seeing my newborn. All I felt was, "I am glad he's finally out". However, after a while, that overwhelming feeling of LOVE came to me. It kept on growing and growing. You never knew you could love someone so much until you become a parent.

16 months later, I am still so in love with my Dan Dan.